File Under "Reasons to Skip Work": It's On with Alexa Chung

Daytime TV, some may say, is the opium of the masses—or, at very least, of the infirm, unemployed, and unhappily married with kids. Unfortunately, almost all daytime TV in this country is complete crap. The soaps are godawful compared to Hispanic ones and programs like Neighbours; most network talk shows are painfully awkward; and you can only watch Devil Wears Prada so many times before it becomes a bit depressing.

On the other side of the pond in sunny England, however, daytime programming is a whole different bag. Irreverent, dry, inventive (notice how most US game shows come from the UK), and oftentimes completely hilarious. Especially excellent are the shows aimed at children and teens, usually hosted by some sort of saucy chap-and-chick combo who have their tongues so deeply inserted in their cheeks that you can actually view an interview with a boy band without feeling like a complete moron. Never would they dream of asking an 18-year-old singer with one radio hit a serious question, and I think that's clearly the right approach.

My favorite of all these programs is called T4 Popworld, and it was especially tremendous during the 2006-7 seasons when a lovely lady named Alexa Chung helmed the ship. Here is my favorite Alexa Chung interview of all time, featuring a very insane and probably high Robbie Williams:

Now, MTV has finally come to its senses and hired Alexa Chung to fill in the hole left by TRL with a weekday show called It's On with Alexa Chung. This, in turn, provides a perfectly valid reason to be home at noon every day. And you really do have to watch it right at noon, because the subject matter (a mix of pop culture news and interviews) dictates that it literally becomes irrelevant seconds after airing. Thankfully, Alexa does "light and mindless" better than anyone with her quick wit and ability to make fun of her guests and live audience without them even realizing it. She also does hilarious things like interview members of Facebook groups (not even the people who started them).

Do I have a bit of a crush on her? Clearly. But I do think that even in her watered-down American TV incarnation, she's still far more worthy than anyone else of the queen of daytime TV crown? That too.